Setting up Virtual Production in Rokoko Studio Legacy

Hardware

HTC trackers (1.0 , 2.0 or 3.0), Valve base stations (1.0 or 2.0).

Note: The 2018 tracker version works with both Base Stations 2.0 and 1.0, however, the old trackers only work with 1.0. You can recognise the 2018 edition by the blue Valve logo on top.

If using a tracker on a Smartsuit (to define an actor's absolute root position): a special purpose built plastic mount, to correctly place the tracker on the actor's back.

• You can purchase the mount (along with a tablet rig) from us, just send an email to sales@rokoko.com.

• You can also 3D-print your own mount by using this design (we recommend having as high infill as possible if you 3D-print it to make it as durable as possible).

Software

• A PC with Windows 10 (Forwarding VP data from Rokoko Legacy to Unreal or Unity on Mac is currently not supported).

• Steam with the SteamVR app.

Getting Started

Base Station & Tracker Setup

1. Place each of the HTC Base Stations 5 x 5 m apart from each other.

2. They should be placed facing each other in a way that they can create an area that you will stand in which the Base Stations can see you.

3. If they aren’t already powered on, make sure that the Base Stations are plugged in

4. If your trackers are not paired to your PC, do so by:

• Opening the SteamVR app.

• Click the downward triangle icon > select Devices > Pair Controller.

• If you see a tracker icon, you can also hover on it and select Pair Tracker.

• Press the Power button for around 2 seconds.

• The status light blinks blue while pairing is in progress.

• The status light turns solid green when the tracker is successfully paired.

• Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.

5. When all the trackers you want to use are paired, they should show up both in the SteamVR panel and in the Virtual Production panel in Studio.

Below is an example of turning on Base Station & HTC Tracker:

SteamVR Setup

Before setting up SteamVR, you must install the Null driver from our Virtual Production Setup panel in Rokoko Studio.

This allows you to use the trackers and Base Stations without the HMD.

To install the Null Driver:

• With Rokoko Studio open, click on the Virtual Production icon at the top right.
  

• Click the cogwheel to the left of “Virtual Production”.

• Toggle on Use Null Driver so that it is green.

• The Null-driver is properly installed when you see an 'H' icon where the HMD icon would normally be on the SteamVR panel.

Next, you must do a Room Setup in SteamVR. To do this:

• Open the SteamVR app inside of Steam.

• Once the panel is displayed, click on the three lines at the top left, and select ‘Room Setup’.

• Perform the ‘Standing Only’ Room Setup and follow the on-screen instructions.

• Once Room Setup is completed, open Rokoko Studio.

Below is an example of the SteamVR Setup:

Smartsuit Pro Setup

• Connect your Smartsuit Pro as you normally would. If you need help with this, follow this guide here.

• Once your suit is connected to Rokoko Legacy, attach a tracker onto one of the mounts provided (or one that you 3D print yourself).

• Once attached, slide the mount inside of your top back pocket of the suit so that the tracker is sitting on top of your back.

• Once the tracker is attached, it’s recommended to define your floor again so that your tracker is at the correct height from the ground.

• After defining your floor, perform a calibration of the suit.

• Once this is done, you are now ready to make recordings and/or forward data to another application such as Unity or Unreal.

Rokoko Legacy Setup

To enable Virtual Production:

Click the Virtual Production icon at the top right of the window.

Click the ‘Start SteamVR’ button.

NOTE: It is best that you do not have SteamVR already open before clicking this button. If you do, close the SteamVR app first, then click this button to re-open it through Rokoko Studio.

Once Virtual Production is enabled there are several adjustable settings:

• Room area - Show or hide room area, indicated by the dotted lines on the ground.

• Tracker Guides - Show or hide tracker icons in the 3D Scene.

• Labels - Show or hide tracker labels in the 3D scene.

• Field of view - Show or hide the fields of view for each Base Station.

• Delay - Set the delay between tracker data and the suits. Default: 50msUnder “Connected devices”, you’ll see icons of all of the trackers and Base Stations currently detected by Rokoko Studio.

Under Scene objects, you’ll see icons of different props you have in the 3D scene.

If you currently don’t have any props, you can click on the “+” Prop icons at the bottom to add them to the 3D scene.

You can assign a tracker to each prop by simply dragging the tracker from Unassigned trackers directly on top of the prop icon.

You can also change the colours and offset of the trackers by right-clicking the prop icon.

The Define Floor icon is shown to the right of Virtual Production Info below.

This allows you to define where your floor is within the space so that the trackers/props are at the right height within the 3D scene. To define the floor:

Place only one tracker on the floor, in view of the Base Stations.
Click the Define Floor icon (sometimes this might require a second click if it doesn’t define properly).

Sample data

You can download an example of HTC tracker data recorded in Studio and exported as an fbx here.

Video demo of Virtual Production in action

Troubleshooting

Please have a look at our YouTube tutorials for Virtual Production available here. You're also welcome to contact us at support@rokoko.com with any further questions you may have.